Link Withdrawal Causes Confusion in Parcels Service
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T"parcels service operated by J. Lathom and Sons (Carriers), Ltd., Crewe, between Manchester, Cheshire and the Midlands, was thrown into confusion and now run under difficulty because of the withdrawal of a linking facility from Walsall Wood provided by Collins Express Services, Ltd., Birmingham.
Mr. C. R. Hodgson, South Wales Licensing Authority, deputizing for the North Western Licensing Authority, was told this at Manchester last week when Lathom and Sons sought to add three vehicles, each of 3 tons unladen, to their A licence. There was an objection from the British Transport Comm issio n. and the case was adjourned until April 10, when the Commission will call evidence.
Thirty Years' Service Mr. J. A. Dunkerley, for the applicants, said that they had 14 vehicles on an A licence, and two special A-licence vehicles specially adapted for parcels carrying. Lathom had distributed for 30 years with their own vehicles between Manchester, Cheshire. the Potteries and North Wales.
For the past seven years, parcels for the Midlands had been collected in Manchester and delivered to Walsall Wood, where they were transferred to Collins. On November 1 last, Lathom received notification from Collins that the sub-contracted traffic was causing embarrassment and would be discoritinued from January 1. Lathom were placed in difficulty and now had to do the Midlands distribution themselves, said Mr. Dunkerley.
Mr. H, 1. Turner, manager of the applicants, said that their traffic to the Midlands for the year ended October, 1956, totalled £15,000, of which £5.500 was paid to Collins. Goods carried for Atlas Express Co., Ltd., now had to be taken to Birmingham. Traffic for J. and N. Phillips and Co.. Ltd., textile wholesalers, Manchester, was still accepted by Collins.
Common Customers Questioned by Mr. A. W. Balne, for the objectors, Mr. Turner agreed that, apart from the trunk services, all parcels were sorted at Crewe, and a service similar to that of British Road Services, who had common customers, was given. Lathom had linked with Collins originally, added Mr. Turner, because the 25-mile limit during nationalization would otherwise have put them out of business.
Mr. Balne pointed out that Lathom's normal user was "mainly Lancashire, Cheshire. Staffordshire, Shropshire and North Wales." and suggested that in 1950 the company decided to accept new traffic for the Midlands when there was an apportunity to do so by using another carrier.
n6 Collins had 70-80 vehicles in the Midlands and were giving up all work outside the area, yet the applicants wanted three vehicles to serve the whole of it from Crewe, "a manifestly uneconomic proposition and quite impracticable." Many places on Collins' list were not going to be served, including Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. No practical plan had been submitted to the Authority.
Lathom's traffic in their own area had declined' in 1956. The only increase was in the Midlands, where they had "built up a reputation on the back or Collins" and were never carriers in their own right. This could be the beginning of an attempt to build up a national parcels service at the expense of other operators.
Mr. Dunkerley submitted that all that Lathom were asking to do was to continue the work previously done by Collins' vehicles. On figures alone a
grant 'Was justified. When Lathom's last applied in 1954, and the vehicles were increased from 13 to 14, annual turnover was £27,000. It had now risen to £33,500.
A witness on behalf of Phillips said that since January, Lathom were more than a day behind with their collections. If the position did not improve Phillips would have to get someone else or use their own vehicles. Although British Railways and B.R.S. carried traffic up to 13,000 a month for them, none went to the Midlands.
A represen/ative of Parry, Sons and Hanson, Ltd., wholesale men's outfitters, said they sent parcels all over the country, Cheshire and the Midlands being served by Lathom. Since January there were many complaints of late delivery in Birmingham. The company's work was divided between the railways and 14 individual carriers. Annual claims averaged 57 to the B.T.C. and six to private hauliers.